Bears great Steve McMichael hospitalized, released

Former Bears defensive lineman Steve McMichael, who is set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, was briefly hospitalized Wednesday, his longtime publicist Betsy Shepherd said. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and released Wednesday night.

Wife Misty McMichael thanked fans for their prayers.

McMichael, who has ALS, spent eight days in a New Lenox hospital in February; he was admitted because his wife Misty feared his had pneumonia. Doctors diagnosed him with a urinary tract infection — and later, more alarmingly, MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection.

He was allowed to return home to Homer Glen with antibiotics.

McMichael can’t talk or move on his own. He is one of three former Bears — alongside returner Devin Hester and defensive lineman Julius Peppers — who will be put into the Hall during an August ceremony in Canton, Ohio. The McMichaels have asked WGN-TV’s Jarrett Payton to induct him.

“He was just a ferocious and relentless player,” Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren said last week at the NFL’s annual meeting. “To play that position for that long at that level is just unmatched.”

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